Water along the Colorado River Basin will get pricier, at least for customers who can still turn on the tap. The Lower Colorado River Authority’s Board of Directors voted unanimously Wednesday to raise rates for water customers. The rate increase does not affect the City of Austin, which prepaid $100 million in 1999 as […]
Jenny Blair
Posted inTransportation
Working group starts process of how to regulate rideshare companies
The mood swayed between optimism and frustration last Wednesday evening at the preliminary meeting of the Transportation Network Companies Working Group, where about 30 people from various transportation constituencies met to discuss ground rules for a conversation about how to regulate rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber. “What we do know is there are […]
Posted inTransportation
Central Corridor Group endorses Project Connect plan for urban rail
Urban rail in Austin rolled closer to reality Friday. By a 13-1 vote, the Central Corridor Advisory Group put its stamp of approval on Project Connect’s Locally Preferred Alternative, or LPA, for Austin’s future transportation project. The Locally Preferred Alternative describes an urban rail line that would run through the East Riverside corridor, cross […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
Council votes to cut Seton’s fee waiver request by more than half
Those opposed to offering the future Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas a bundle of fee and requirement waivers can take heart after the Austin City Council cut the total value of the waivers from over $2.4 million to $902,000. The Council voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance waiving some fees […]
Posted inDevelopment, Transportation
Commission backs plan to end free parking at Walsh Boat Landing
Kayakers, canoeists and partiers on barges won’t get to enjoy free parking at Lake Austin’s Walsh Boat Landing for much longer. At Tuesday’s Urban Transportation Commission meeting, Austin’s Parking Enterprise Manager Steve Grassfield told commissioners that nearby streets and lots will soon feature metered parking. The Walsh Landing area is home to popular hangouts […]
Posted inTransportation
TxDOT engineers plan small steps before major expansion on I-35
Traffic engineers with the Texas Department of Transportation know how they want to spruce up the Travis County corridor along Interstate 35, but they aim to start small. At a media workshop Tuesday, officials went over TxDOT’s short- and long-term ideas for the state’s most congested stretch of freeway, while Austin State Sen. Kirk Watson […]
Posted inTransportation
Lyft bypasses city program, to begin rideshare operations today
In a surprise move, the rideshare company Lyft has announced it will launch Austin operations today. The company is apparently leapfrogging the Austin City Council’s May 15 decision to develop a pilot program for Lyft and other rideshare companies, also known as transportation network companies, over a six-month timeframe. (See Austin Monitor, May 16) […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Transportation
Council reviews Central Corridor Study’s report on Urban Rail
The Austin City Council got a look Thursday at Project Connect’s Central Corridor Study recommendations for the city’s proposed high-capacity transit line, its initial route and its price tag. Project leader Kyle Keahey told Council members the study team recommends a Locally Preferred Alternative, or LPA, of an Urban Rail route from Riverside Drive […]
Posted inDevelopment
Capital Metro board chooses two finalists for Plaza Saltillo project
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority selected two finalists Monday in the competition to develop the East Side’s Plaza Saltillo. They were Endeavor Real Estate Group and Saltillo Collaborative. The board plans to announce a final choice at its June 23 meeting. The other two developers the board considered, Riverside Resources and Argyle Residential, a […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Transportation
Council sets up study process for ridesharing, taxi service issues
Taxicab drivers and safer-streets activists were among those with a heavy stake in two transportation-related items at Thursday’s City Council meeting. But in the end, all they got was a stakeholder process that will not be over until mid-November, making it unlikely that the current Council will be enacting new rules. One item calls […]
Posted inLocal Government, Transportation
CAMPO ponders some 800 projects for 2040 Transportation Plan
A massive list of proposed transportation projects filled out a packed agenda at Monday night’s meeting of theCapital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board. More than 800 proposed transportation projects for the region filled 36 pages of the meeting agenda. Each project, including actions like lane-widening and new sidewalks, was submitted by CAMPO’s […]